DRPC Pastor Appreciation 2023

Hey Friends,

This is Odie reporting from my the Beach Cottage. People ask me all the time if I enjoy being home. The answer is a resounding, yes! This time around is no exception.

I am definitely ready for better weather. We have had some days that have felt more like winter rather than spring. I am ready to spend some time on my beautiful porch.

DRPC Pastor Appreciation 2023

Last weekend was a special time at Dryden Road Pentecostal Church. We took a couple days to show our appreciation for our Pastors. Bro. Bennie and Sis. Jane Sutherland has been the Pastor of DRPC since January 1978.

 

Saturday

Saturday evening we gathered for a Pastor Appreciation church dinner. Our ladies and men of DRPC prepared a feast. I forgot to get pictures of the food tables. Everything that I ate was fantastic.

The food and fellowship with my church family were excellent! I was happy to be home to celebrate my amazing Pastor. Below are some pictures from Saturday.

Sunday Morning

The Sunday morning service was dedicated to Pastor Appreciation. I have a few pictures and commentary from the highlights of the service.

Bro. Andrew Blevins did a phenomenal job conducting the service and honoring our Pastor.

Sis. Kim Abner spoke about Bro. Bennie and Sis. Jane. She was a young lady at DRPC when Bro. Bennie and Sis. Jane came to Pastor.

Sis. Rachel Thompson, Sis. Sarah Boyd and Sis. Rebecca James sang a couple great songs.

Bro. Brandon James told us how Bro. Bennie's leadership has impacted and changed him.

It was good to have Bro. Dallas and Sis. Luvenia Lakes with us Saturday night and Sunday morning. Bro. Bennie and Sis. Jane Sutherland have had a great influence on the Lakes family. Their ministry is just one of the many ministries that have come from Bro. Bennie's leadership.

Bro. John Gabbard was there to preach for Pastor's Appreciation this year. He preached wonderfully and gave honor to his friend, Bro. Bennie!

My family came to DRPC around 35 years ago. I am so grateful that I have had the privilege for most of my life to have Bro. Bennie and Sis. Jane as my Pastors! I love and appreciate them so much! 

I am thankful for the influence, leadership, friendship, guidance and correction of my Pastors. They have stood by us and helped us thru the good and the bad times in life.

I truly believe it is because of their love and support that we have the life we do today. Words do not adequately express how much they mean to me.

Across this country we hear testimonies almost every week how Bro. Bennie and Sis. Jane have helped countless lives! Their ministry is still bearing great fruit in 2023! 

I am proud to say that my Pastors are Bro. Bennie and Sis. Jane Sutherland! God directed the path of my life to intersect with them for a purpose!

Sunday Night

Bro. Bennie took a moment to recognize our Church Secretary, Sis. Kim Abner, and our Church Treasurer, Bro. Jeff Roberts. Both individuals work so hard for our church. They are dedicated to their jobs.

We were blessed with an excellent service Sunday night. God showed up with a mighty move of His Spirit. Then Bro. Gabbard gave us another word from the Lord! It was capped off with a great altar service. Many people received help and encouragement.

 

The night ended by honoring our Pastors with flowers and an offering! 

Those things are just a small token of appreciation for their labor of love! I am glad I was home for DRPC Pastor Appreciation 2023!

Thanks for visiting with me today. I appreciate you spending some of your time here.

Odie

The Weekend Dispatch 10/17/22

Our weekend was full of activity, miles and smiles, I think we are going to have to break it into smaller pieces. I will try to hit the highlights in this Mile Marker and go back with more pictures and descriptions later in the week!

Thursday we left Gainesville, Texas and drove about 90 minutes north to the Walmart in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma. Our purpose in Pauls Valley was the 40th Anniversary get-together for our dear friends, Bro. Bruce and Sis. Priscilla Mayhan! It was a wonderful occasion spent with great friends. 

We will have more memories and photographic evidence to share later, but get a look at this great couple and the snack table. Yeah, zoom it in! Amazing!

We drove another 156 miles that night and arrived at Bethany Holiness Church in Sand Springs before midnight. We were there for their annual fellowship meeting, but first, we had Odie's Birthday to take care of on Friday.

Odie with her Birthday Starbucks

We were singing at Bethany for three services and we enjoyed it very much. Bro. Edsel Young was preaching the night services and his preaching was excellent! He packed a huge portion of great substance into 35 minutes. Wow!

We will have more pictures of the fellowship meeting later but here are a few.

Friday night after service there was food and fellowship for all. The Cummins family had a Birthday cake and balloons for Odie's Birthday. I heard the cake was awesome. God bless our dear friends!

Saturday afternoon, we pulled the bus toward the exit and hooked the car up. We wanted to make a quick exit for Moore, Oklahoma so we could be in position to begin revival Sunday morning.

After a super service Saturday night, we were loaded and rolling by a few minutes after 10:00. That was made possible by several of the men jumping in and helping us pack up and load it all in the bus.

We should have been pulling into the church at Moore by midnight or shortly after, but there were bad storms moving through OKC and heading right up the interstate toward us. 

The storm was predicted to have 60 MPH wind gusts so we stopped about an hour into the trip at a travel plaza near Stroud, Oklahoma. We found a place to park and stayed put until the storms blew by, mostly going south of us.

After one hour and fifteen minutes, we cranked up and finished the 62 miles to Crosslight Chapel in Moore, pulling in at 1:15 AM. We were plugged up and in the bed a couple minutes before 2:00.

The Sunday morning and Sunday evening services were totally awesome. We love Crosslight. This church was birthed with outreach as its purpose and it is so refreshing to us to be here and be a part of the services.

We are planning to be here through Friday night and we would love for you to join us at 6:30 IF you are nearby. Let's have revival!

At the conclusion of the service, it was time for Pastor Appreciation for Bro. Lendell and Sis. Cindi Birdsong. This is at least the second time we have been here to help celebrate Pastor Appreciation and we were honored to participate.

We enjoyed a super great meal that was catered by Johnny Carino's! Wow! It was so good.

That wraps up our wonderful weekend. Thank you for stopping by.

Davy